The Workers International League recently held its national congress, discussing and approving its annual U.S. Perspectives document. We reproduce a few highlights from this document in this issue of Socialist Appeal. The full text will be available on our website shortly. We also focus in this issue on the rapidly-growing Hands Off Venezuela Campaign which is building momentum across the country. We encourage you to contact us about building HOV committees in your area. The effect of the radicalization of the masses across the whole of Latin America will not be contained at the Rio Grande. Today Venezuela - tomorrow Mexico, the U.S., Canada, and the world. Now is the time to defend the Venezuelan Revolution!

The events of the morning of September 11th have shaken the entire world. One single terrorist attack has not only shocked masses of people out of their daily lives, it has crippled the world economy. Already, the Mayor of New York City, Rudolph Giuliani, has stated that the dead will be counted in the thousands.

The world situation can only be characterized as highly volatile and unstable. The profound economic, political, social, and military instability, outlined in previous issues of Socialist Appeal, has intensified over the past year. Without a doubt, we are in the most turbulent historical epoch since the end of World War II, if not the most tumultuous in human history. It is only the beginning of a period of wars, revolutions, and counter-revolutions - an era of world crisis and world revolution. Our political perspectives and organizational tasks flow from this.